| Lentinus edodes is the second largest variety of edible fungi in the world,and it is also the category of edible fungi with the largest output and the highest export earnings in China.As a representative of mountain agriculture,renting out forest farms to artificially cultivate Lentinus edodes has historically been a means of livelihood for mountain residents in southern Zhejiang Province.Since the 1990s,Lentinus edodes industry has gradually become a pillar industry in the southern mountain area of western Henan Province,represented by Xixia County,and has supported the industrial pattern of Henan Province as a major province in edible fungi industry and edible fungi as the largest export agricultural product in Henan Province.Under the discourse of geographical indication of agricultural products,Xixia Lentinus edodes,as a local specialty,has been endowed with a kind of original nature,which actually covers up the flow network of technology,people and capital on which the survival of mushroom livelihood depends,as well as risks behind it.From the perspective of Ulrich Beck’s risk society,this paper focuses on the position of the livelihood of farmers in Xixia County in the domestic and international markets.Through participant observation and interviews with farmers in Xixia County,we understand the impact of global markets,international agreements and national political and economic system on the livelihood choices of farmers in Xixia County in modern society,and the reasons why Lentinus edodes industry have become resilient to risks in local society.This article first discusses the historical origin of the mushroom industry in Xixia County,the arrangement of mushroom production and life of mushroom farmers,and the operational logic of the mushroom purchase and sales market in villages and towns.It provides a panoramic view of the mushroom landscape in Xixia County.After that,it is pointed out that the transformation of the national food consumption structure,the industrial support aimed at poverty alleviation,and the"freedom" that can be balanced with family life are the key social and cultural factors that affect farmers’ choice of mushroom livelihood.However,on the other side of the development of the mushroom industry,modern risks such as excessive consumption of forest resources,the climate crisis,the global spread of COVID19,and the chronic pain afflicting farmers have added uncertainty to the mushroom livelihood style that relies on natural resources,global markets,and intensive manual labor.Finally,based on an analysis of the risks faced by farmers in Xixia County in their mushroom livelihood and the existing coping mechanisms,this article believes that the government’s indirect financial subsidies to promote the development of ecological and environmentally friendly agriculture,the relatively mature and stable local production and sales network,and the gender division strategy within farmers’ families have enhanced the ability of mushroom livelihood to withstand modernization risks,but direct agricultural subsidies for new mushroom production areas have brought about institutionalized risks that interfere with market prices.In addition,the agricultural insurance operated by market logic and the imperfect rural social security have not yet provided sufficient resilience support for farmers’ mushroom livelihood,but the existence of the latter to some extent expands the possibility of mushroom livelihood being chosen by farmers in Xixia.. |
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